"You already know the next fighters, don't you? Bulma Brief and Yujiro Hanma!" the announcer announced with energy. Like the screaming crowd, he wanted to see this fight.
The two fighters then went up to the arena. Bulma looked at Yujiro seriously because, based on his previous performances, he was a formidable opponent.
Yujiro examined Bulma not only with his eyes but also with his Ki perception. A horrible smile came across his face when he noticed that the girl took him seriously.
He would return the favor.
They hadn't interacted much before, and there wasn't anything to say at this point. Silently, their auras began to grow.
Bulma's aura was tinged with bright purple, and Yujiro's was crimson. Their auras collided in the middle of the arena. Instead of a noisy confrontation, however, they simply pushed each other.
There was no dramatic tremor; the arena did not fragment, nor did any chunks rise. They just waited patiently. When the starting gong sounded, a bolt of energy emerged and carved the arena with a thin line, splitting it into two parts.
"Sun Collapse!" Bulma shouted, suddenly creating a ball of purple energy that emitted a great amount of heat.
This attack was inspired by Arale's feat when she demonstrated her overwhelming power to Bulma. During that feat, the sun disappeared for a moment without anyone noticing, thanks to the gynoid's absurd comic abilities.
The ki sphere pulsed, displaying faint arcs of purple light resembling solar flares. Then, as its name suggests, it collapsed in on itself. The pressure caused a jet of concentrated energy to shoot toward Yujiro at high speed.
It was a powerful attack; a trail of molten rock was left on the arena as the beam passed. However, Yujiro simply laughed before putting his hand forward.
"Ogre's Claw!" Yujiro channeled the red energy in his body into his hand in an instant, creating an energy claw that caught Bulma's attack. While it might have seemed simple, it wasn't.
Yujiro was pushed backward, digging his feet into the ground and channeling the force of the impact into it, further shattering the arena. The heat of the attack was another issue, because even though he created an energy claw, he felt scalded.
Suddenly, red light covered Yujiro's eyes, and he fired several Ki attacks into the air with his free hand. The attacks collided with the energy balls Bulma threw while he dealt with the previous beam.
"A rather interesting display of control and cunning, but I'm not interested in you, girl. Come on. Let that be, look at me again," Yujiro said before deflecting the lingering energy beam in his hand upwards.
"Then you must show me everything you have. Show me your motivation." Bulma made a reference that only she understood. The thrill of fighting coursed through her body, causing her to ignore those actions.
She could feel it throughout her body. She could overcome another limit if she fought Yujiro. It didn't have to be a limit on her power, but rather something more ethereal. All her fights and training seemed to build up to this moment.
She didn't know what it would be, but she wanted it badly, so she took a breath before unleashing her full power. A projection of her plant self-emerged behind her. Still with her eyes closed, pure power coursed through Bulma's body as she accessed some of the hidden power within her.
This bit of power tinged her aura white. Through the influence of her ki, the plants on the island became vibrant again. Some even waved their branches in her direction, wanting to feel more of the pure power she emanated.
"Undoubtedly an incredible sight," Yujiro thought as he looked at the strange being, who was still contained with his eyes closed. The being displayed a peculiar Ki, not divine, but peculiar nonetheless.
Yujiro felt that just by being in front of Bulma, some of his past training and fight wounds healed. He had to examine himself mentally.
'She's healing me without even trying,' he thought. He felt that Bulma could control this power, but she had chosen to let her enemy benefit from her actions.
"Why?" asked Yujiro curiously.
"I want you to fight with everything you've got," Bulma said as she threw a ball of white energy toward Yujiro. Sensing no danger, he let himself be hit by it.
He then felt the healing effect on his body accelerate, mending his old wounds and giving him a slight boost in strength. The smile on Yujiro's face grew wider.
"Looks like your healing arts have improved," he complimented before placing his hand on his shirt. In one tug, he tore it.
Yujiro's muscles began to twist, not grow or expand, but simply reorganize, seeking an optimal fighting state. A pillar of crimson energy erupted from his back, and something appeared there.
The crowd screamed, and the cameras at the tournament focused on what could only be described as the face of a demon. Its back muscles were arranged in such a way as to resemble a monster, complete with the same large grin as its wearer.
Bulma smiled when she felt the power Yujiro was unleashing. Neither of them was going to hold back in this fight, so she initiated it.
The girl's figure became a blur, and she soon appeared in front of Yujiro. She kicked hard at his torso, but he simply responded by bending his body slightly and putting his arm in the way.
Yujiro's face showed a hint of surprise as his technique to redistribute the impact seemed to fail. There was something about Bulma's kick that he didn't understand, so he took a few steps back to let the force flow to the ground.
Bulma didn't stop there. She barely hovered above the ground, using it to increase her speed as she flew toward Yujiro and launched a series of attacks. Thus, the two fighters began exchanging punches, kicks, elbows, and head-butts, moving with pure power.
Yujiro's inability to contain the force of the blows caused shock waves from the attacks he received, and they also wreaked havoc on Bulma. In a short time, both were covered with bruises.
A slight fluctuation appeared in the projection behind Bulma, and the blue-haired girl changed her strategy. Instead of hitting Yujiro, she attacked him with Ki attacks that looked like thin threads.
"Molecular Cut!" The threads fell on Yujiro's body, but a layer of red ki emerged from him, protecting him.
"My turn!" the man muttered before raising his fist. Red energy gathered around it like a tornado.
"Oni Wrath!" The Ki in his fist took on a solid form, filled with prominent spikes, and was used against Bulma not as a punch but as a sledgehammer.
Bulma was too close to evade, so a wall of energy composed of many hexagons, similar to corduroy, emerged from her body. It was not enough.
Yujiro's attack shattered the shield and fell on Bulma's body, hitting her arms, which she had placed over her chest in defense. Her slender figure flew backwards, but she quickly regained control of her body in midair and aimed at her opponent with both hands.
"Tesseract!" A cube of energy flew toward Yujiro, and thin, dense lines of ki flew toward his body, intending to tear him apart.
"Rakshasa Burst!" With a burst of energy, the Hanma shattered Bulma's attack and flew toward her like a comet.
"You've got more in you, girl!" he exclaimed, slamming a kick into her body and shooting her towards the ground.
The blue-haired girl's fallen body shattered the battleground, creating a huge crater in the arena. However, when Yujiro tried to attack, several thin beams of ki hit his body, piercing his energy armor and stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Damn! How can you impact my body so easily?" Yujiro complained, touching the charred holes in his body.
They hurt like hell, but he was used to the pain from his training. He knew Bulma could have killed him with those beams if she wanted to, but she controlled them so well that they went through his body without hurting his internal organs.
"Everything has a limit, and everything vibrates. I just vibrate my Ki attacks. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out soon."
Bulma came out of the pose her body had created. She floated on it as her body glowed brightly.
Her right arm was special because a strange halo of white energy floated in her palm, and purple lines formed a complicated circuit on her arm.
Perhaps Bulma had reinforced those previous attacks with her Angel Arm, but it didn't matter. In this fight, she simply wanted to give it her all. The halo in her palm rotated gently, and a torrent of ki fell on Yujiro.
"Asura Cry!" He projected a cannon of crimson energy that rotated quickly toward the incoming attack.
The collision caused an explosion in the arena, but the two didn't stop. They soon returned to exchanging blows. They simply let each other hit them with everything they had; they didn't fight back.
Why was Bulma doing that? Because she could feel what she was about to reach for. She let everything flow as she powered up every physical attack with ki and fired bursts of energy as if her energy were unlimited.
Yujiro, on the other hand, was a savage in a civilized body. Despite having many Ki techniques, he preferred to fight hand-to-hand. He simply played along with Bulma, pushing her harder and harder because he had noticed something in the young girl's eyes.
'Using me as a forge to find your way? Fine. I'll help you,' Yujiro thought happily as he poured out every drop of his power, every technique, and every ability to improve himself. He did all this to serve as a source of pressure for Bulma.
Since unlocking the partial transformation of her body, Bulma had not had a worthy confrontation to help her process it, but now she was adapting to the power of her Angel Arm and using the changes in her body more freely.
Her hair turned metallic, and she used it as a weapon to distract Yujiro. Sometimes she slightly altered the length of her limbs to take him by surprise. She became more capable as time went on.
Her fighting style had been somewhat mechanical due to her lack of real combat experience. Though she had adapted with Sensui, it wasn't enough until now. She didn't care about the trickle of blood falling from her lip or her disheveled clothes; she simply fought.
She remembered every teaching, every training session, and every fight, though there were few, that had helped refine her abilities. The power she gained from Ki Projection had become easier to control. Of course, she didn't have real access to this power.
Projecting that image and channeling her strength were not her techniques, but belonged to Yamcha and Goku. Although she unleashed powerful energy, it felt light.
Until today, that is. She was nowhere near able to harness her inner capabilities, but during the fight against Yujiro, she developed her method. A blurry purple halo emerged on Bulma's head. It was just a symbol, but it made her laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on, watch the world again!" With Bulma's words, her projection opened her eyes slightly before closing them again, having seen enough.
"Sun Collapse!" This time, the channeling, collapse, and lightning shot were much faster and more fluid.
She felt it! It wasn't some kind of enlightenment or transcendence; it was her style of fighting, using the Sora Way. It was basic, but she was no longer subject to routines or methods.
Ironically, she was the last among her peers to take this step. She had incredible techniques but lacked a wild fighting style like Goku's, a methodical style like Krillin's, a brutal style like Yamcha's, and a specialized style like Chi-Chi's.
She was too smart and absorbed too much from others, who sometimes couldn't adapt to her style. Ironically, all her learning and knowledge became a limit for her... one that she broke under pressure.
The energy beam that hit Yujiro was different from before, despite having the same name. It wasn't a forceful impact filled with heat; it was more like pouring a thick liquid over his body.
His defense was on edge because of the peculiar attack, and suddenly, everything exploded. His body was thrown off, but he managed to control it and avoid flying out of control. Then, he realized something.
His foot had stepped on a railing in the audience. With a self-deprecating smile, he listened to the announcer.
"Fighter Yujiro Hanma is out of the arena! The winner of this match is Bulma Brief!"
Tonight, Bulma had finally taken another step in her personal growth. She was no longer just a connoisseur; although she was not a master, she had begun her journey.
Change. Heaven encompasses everything, including change.
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AN: I got a fever and a headache, hehe.... but yes, Bulma is too 'genius,' for that reason her fighting style is too complicated to define. But now, she will be known as a fighter who can make changes when she fights. Learning and making changes to adapt these techniques in her particular way to fight.